SOCIAL CAPITAL FRAMEWORK AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE ENTREPRENEURIAL ACTIVITY

The aim of this article is to understand the theoretical framework of the social capital concept, based on different approaches identified in the literature and highlight the direct influence social capital has on the entrepreneurial personality characteristics of individuals and organizations. The objectives of the paper focus first on conceptualizing the notion of social capital, by acknowledging the social capital structure and components in the acceptation of the most popular scholars in the research field, the sources of social capital and its role in building social economy; further on, the article explores the influence of social capital in the creation of innovation and economic growth, its dimensions in the entrepreneurial process and the definition of the instruments of measurement, including indicators of trust-generalized and institutional, number of social networks, associational activities-passive and active membership and civic norms. The paper gathers some of the outcomes of different researches conducted in the literature with respect to the positive relationship between social capital dimensions and entrepreneurship, through attracting the right potential of human capital and the required level of financial capital, reducing the transaction costs, identifying new market opportunities and leveraging the social networks, transfer and knowledge overflow and information channels, enabling the launch and the survival of business venture and help gain competitive advantage that would ensure sustainability and success. The case studies referenced in this article use various approaches of highlighting the social capital as a key enabler and not necessarily a generator of entrepreneurial activity, by analyzing the likelihood to launch new ventures based on the interactions with key partners and exchange of information, the sustainability and success of a start up or push/pull factors that determine an entrepreneur to enter the new ventures environment. The article is concluded by a high level introspection on how social capital is created in large corporations, what are the dimensions and the structure of this new “must have” capital form.